"What about a weapon?"

"You want a weapon to talk with the villagers?" asked the maid, giving him a doubting look.

"Of course not," said Subaru, chuckling lightly. "But if I have to go and hunt a monster, I'll need one."

"Master Roswaal has tasked Rem to make you presentable, so she will focus on that first, Dear Guest," she replied, audibly unimpressed by his reasoning.

Luckily, her dismissive answer did little to curb Subaru's excitement—and neither did the rough treatment by Beatrice before. He was too eager to fulfill his given task, which would allow him to cement his position at Emilia's side—his desired place in this new world.

To that end, he wanted to head straight to the village, just as he had stated. But reminded by Roswaal that he would act as his representative in this matter, he first needed to change to a more suitable attire. This was necessary not only to indicate his status as a servant of house Mathers, but also so he would be clearly identifiable as someone worthy of actually representing the lord of these lands. And while he liked his tracksuit, it was definitely more on the comfortable and functional, rather than the aesthetically-pleasing side, so he had no issues with parting from it—at least during working hours. So, as he left the dining room, he followed Rem down the hallways of the mansion, who seemed rather reserved still.

If this was truly to become his new home, he'd definitely need to get along better with the other people at the mansion. While he was at a loss on how to do that with Beatrice for now, at least with Rem he could now hope to get things started.

"I'm not a guest anymore," he said, smiling lightly. "So please just call me Subaru from now on, Rem." Much to his disappointment though, the maid didn't turn around—didn't even slow down her pace.

It was only after a prolonged awkward silence that the maid halted beside a door to one of the rooms in the mansion, and turned to him. "As you wish… Subaru-kun." While it sounded like each word was pressed out, Subaru was glad nonetheless. Glad that the cornerstone of their friendship was set with that. "And we're here."


"So, how do I look?"

"Amazing…" The words were spoken in clear astonishment, making Subaru grab his revers and stretch out his chin, proud as a peacock. As he regarded his reflection in one of the grand windows of the mansion, perfectly mirroring him due to the bright sunlight, he had to admit, he did look—"Amazing—how sister's work managed to make you almost presentable, despite all odds."

Clearly hit, Subaru flinched and pursed his lips. What sounded like a fine compliment, quickly took a sour turn—but he decided to just bite on his tongue, suppressing a frown.

Her sister continued instead and shook her head. "Rem must apologize that her work will bring shame upon Master Roswaal's name, despite her best efforts."

"What's the big idea, you two!?" snapped Subaru back, abandoning his prideful posture. "That butler uniform can't be fitting that badly!" Rem had even adjusted the size, since none of the other pieces of clothing were even remotely close to fitting him… aside from a couple of maid uniforms, embarrassingly. Now properly equipped, he just wanted to head to the village, where Ram would guide him.

"Worry not, sister. I don't think any piece of clothing could help in that matter," replied the pink-haired maid, clearly not paying any attention to their object of ridicule.

"Rem must apologize regardless. Sister will do better with observing his steps instead, I am sure." It was as if Subaru didn't exist.

"I will avert any damage to Master Roswaal's reputation," said Ram, nodding. "Sister can return to her tasks at ease."

"Could you two at least try to believe in me?" His voice had taken on a pleading tone.

The maids conjoined hands, turned their eyes to him, and smiled. "No."

Subaru drew a long face and hid it behind both hands. Such cruelty would've been way more hurtful if it didn't look so comical and… cute. That, and he took it as little more than some extra motivation to actually nail the job.

"Stop tarrying around. I have other things to do than observe your pathetic failures." Ram had already moved to the head of the stairs leading down to the long avenue—the road to the village, as he remembered—while Rem had turned to head back inside the mansion again… wordlessly.

Recomposing himself, he set up a confident grin. "Yeah. Like being dazzled by my overwhelming success!" he proclaimed, giving her a thumbs up.

It was hard to imagine Ram could regard him with an even more dead-panned expression… but he had managed to do it. With a scoff, the maid turned to the stairs. It seemed she would go to the village… with or without him. "Oi oi, wait for me!" shouted Subaru, while gliding down the steps in pursuit.

Following the maid, he exited the mansion grounds into the forest beyond.

The mansion's well-maintained lawn and brick-paved pathways turned to forest and a passable, if somewhat overgrown dirt path. They proceeded for a while, accompanied only by the sounds of insects, the rustling of leaves, and their own footsteps.

After they had left the mansion proper, the conversation died down. Ram seemed fine with just ignoring his presence, now that her sister was no longer around, leaving Subaru to walk in silence by her side. They had been going on as such for about five minutes when he finally had enough of the mood, so he turned his gaze to her and—

"Barusu, have you thought of a way to talk to the villagers without tarnishing Master Roswaal's name?" said Ram, as though she had been waiting for her cue, appraising him through the corner of her narrowed eyes.

"How bad do you think I'll fare!?" said Subaru, ruffling his hair. Though he dropped his melodramatic antics upon realizing… "And… wait, what's Barusu?"

"A good-for-nothing that doesn't take his task very seriously," she stated, mercilessly.

"I guess I should just be happy about you almost using my name," he said, sighing lightly. "Just you wait, Ram. I'll be the best monster hunter this village's ever seen!"

Ram scoffed again. "As if that would be the challenging part of your duties." Despite Subaru picking up on the ominous undertone, he had no chance to inquire further about it, as Ram just continued. "Maybe Barusu would appear less useless if he would know to straighten his back, or realize that joking around won't do to represent a lord in formal matters."

"You could just tell me that directly," sulked Subaru while adjusting his posture, earning himself another scoff.

"It's not my responsibility to remind Barusu of his many shortcomings. A knight should not have that many to begin with."

"Being a knight sure comes with a lot of pressure," said Subaru with a groan. "To be met with nothing but expectations…" Where his voice was certain before, now it slightly wavered.

"It's the path you've chosen, Barusu. Now stick with it."

Upon hearing these words, Subaru's eyes widened. So far, Ram had only found words of criticism for him. His appearance. His behavior. His wishes. However, what Subaru began to fully realize, was that she didn't have a problem with him, or even just pointed these things out to voice her disapproval. No. It was to offer him a chance to improve on these things. It wasn't out of disinterest, but rather the opposite; that she cared about his potential success. And in turn, maybe even him.

Exiting the forest, Subaru raised his hand to throw shade on his eyes. As they had left the cover of the dense canopy, the sudden flood of light almost blinded him.

"It appears we're almost there," said Ram, nudging her chin to the many dispersed houses stretched out before them. "Once we're in the village, you should find the village elder. I will buy food and other supplies and join you afterwards."

Which in turn meant: Leaving him alone to find the village elder. They'd really not help him in any way, it seemed. But that was fine. There were surely plenty of people he could ask for information.

As they continued to walk down the road, Subaru could see several villagers working on the fields all around the village. They, on the other hand, either didn't notice them at all, being completely occupied by their work, or merely threw them some curious glances, before returning to their harvest. It was impossible to tell what they were harvesting from a distance, though. Regardless, seeing that so many people were on and about their work, there would surely be someone around to point him to the village elder.

And just as Ram had announced, the moment they came close to the border of the village, they separated ways, with her taking a turn to a side road leading to one of the farms.

Once Ram was outside of his hearing range, Subaru took a deep breath. He couldn't deny that he felt a bit nervous now. Despite a part of his lightheartedness originating from genuine carefreeness, it was also to mask his insecurity about the whole mission. Not only did he feel overwhelmed by the tons of expectations connected to the title of a knight, but deep down he regarded himself as completely unsuitable for the job. But it was just as Ram said it; this was what he chose, and this is what he'd fight for.

Still, in order to calm down a bit and actually familiarize himself with the new surroundings, he decided to take a stroll through the village first. It wasn't very large to begin with, so it shouldn't take too long. And he was sure that he'd make a much better first impression by appearing completely collected… not to mention that he still had to ask one of the villagers where he could find the head in the first place.

So he decided to follow any path that didn't lead directly towards the village center—easily identifiable as the open plaza in what seemed like the middle of the village,—meaning he basically walked all around it first, instead. Not that there was too much to be seen. Simple houses made out of stone and wood, differing little in architectural details or lacking any sort of special decorations, were sparsely built all around the many winding paths around the village, separated by small gardens or fields.

Much to his disappointment though, he didn't really get the chance to talk to any of the villagers. Aside from a few elderly people, who seemingly did their best to simply ignore him, he could only really see people working in their gardens—doing laundry or similar things—or occasionally hear a slight hum coming from one of the houses through the open windows. Though they certainly weren't interested in entertaining some stranger either. Or worse; when a middle-aged woman—dressed in an apron and her hair being tied back by a red headscarf—saw him, and their gazes crossed, her previously concentrated face got marred by a frown… and with hasty steps, she closed the window shutter.

With a sigh, Subaru continued wandering through the village's loose network of paths. Eventually, he went to cross a stream, and took a break on a bridge. Looking upstream, most of the river bank was filled with trees, and the stream turned to the left after some time, flowing from the forest Ram and Subaru had come from. Meaning that this was probably the same stream they had crossed on their way here. Following the flowing water downstream was considerably easier. The banks were mostly open, and on one more shallow spot he could see a couple of women with baskets gathered, happily chatting with each other. Yet, the moment they spotted him, the conversation died down, their words turning to whispers and murmurs, with the occasional stolen glance. His wry smile and waving didn't seem to help… so he just decided to leave.

Though as he turned around, a loud "Eep!" startled him. All he could see was a child's head peeking around the corner of a nearby house, quickly disappearing back behind the wall right when their gazes crossed. Subaru scratched his cheek. Normally, he got on pretty well with children, but… maybe the people here weren't used to strangers walking on and about their village.

Drawing a grimace at that potential blunder—so much for a good first impression—he resolved to finally go over to the village center. No matter where he was in the village, he could always spot the roof of one building clearly towering above all others. It simply had to be the village hall.

A single well stood in the center of the open plaza, it being completely surrounded by houses built in a circular way all around it. The only exceptions were the paths leading to it, as well as two broader roads—probably the ones they had used the day before to drive through the village. And once he could see the towering building a bit better, there was no doubt about it being the village hall. Surrounded completely by stone stairs leading up to the elevated building, its roof held by pillars instead of simple walls… and he bet that on the opening in the roof, a bell was installed. Or maybe a gong. Regardless, that's where he'd need to head.

Yet, as he entered the plaza, he could see a small group of people… or rather, a group of small people observing him. Including the girl he had seen before, now that he took a closer look. They were whispering to each other—though with the subtlety of young children, meaning occasionally they'd be too loud and allowed him to pick up a word or two. To hear them talking about his scary eyes stung, but he was used to it by now.

Eventually, one of the children, a young girl, separated from the group—much to the shock of the others—and walked up to him. Though curiously enough, she didn't say anything, and simply looked shyly at him while lowering her head.

"M… Meili, what are you doing!?" asked a nervous, if not outright scared voice, belonging to an orange-haired girl. Though despite her audible hesitation, she ran directly after the other girl. Noticing though, that she now had stepped inadvertently closer to the source of her fear, she simply weakly pulled on the blue-haired girl's sleeve, seemingly trying to get her attention, and pull her back towards the group.

Feeling uncomfortable with how much he was scaring them, Subaru conjured a soft smile and raised his hand. "Hey." A simple, friendly greeting seemed to be enough to take a bit of worry away from the orange-haired girl—at least enough for her to say something.

"S… Sorry, mister," she uttered, still barely able to look at him. "She didn't mean to bother you. Isn't that, right, Meili?" Despite another pull on the sleeve of her blue-black dress, the girl didn't budge. She didn't even answer the other girl. Instead, she looked directly at Subaru.

"Are you lost, mister?" The question surprised the other two, making them raise their eyebrows.

"Mhm? No, I'm not lost," said Subaru, shaking his head. "Though I am looking for something… or, well. Someone."

Taking a slight step back, Petra covered her mouth with her hands. "You… you don't mean, the W… W…"

The other girl's eyes shone up for a moment. "Are you looking for M—"

"Hey you!" shouted another voice behind the two girls, belonging to one of the other children, who had been standing indecisively at a distance so far. "I—If you wanna hurt them, you have to make it past us!" Charging forward, one of the boys tackled Subaru, while the other four stretched out their arms, positioning themselves between Subaru and the two girls.

"Ow, hey, what's the big idea!?" asked Subaru, who managed to ward off the charging boy, lightly scuffling with him instead. "I'm not going to hurt anyone, so cut it out alread—ouch!" The boy had sunk his teeth in Subaru's hand, making him shake him off. Though at least it wasn't very deep, and just left minor markings. "Seriously, I'm not hurting anybody!"

Seeing how their friend got shaken off, now the other boys jumped on Subaru. One held onto his back, one clung to his right leg, and the other two tried to wrestle him down, while he tried to hold them off as good as he could. Eventually though, he was able to free himself from their grasp, letting the one grabbing onto his back down. "Let's call it a draw for now," said Subaru, panting slightly and rubbing his chin, regarding the one who had attacked him first—a boy named Lucas, as he overheard. "Otherwise I won't be able to take care of the monster."

"The monster?" The children's eyes went wide, quickly forgetting their previous aggression. "You're going to take care of it?"

"Yep!" said Subaru, his spirits now clearly lifted again. "Just leave it to me, and the monster will be down in no time."

The children looked slightly skeptical, but the orange-haired girl nodded. "You're from the mansion, right?"

"Petra, what are you talking about?" asked Lucas, clearly surprised by her words.

"You're right," said Subaru, nodding. "I've been sent by Ros-ch—uh. Roswaal, to take care of it. How did you know?"

"I saw you at the mansion this morning, I think," answered Petra, her voice swelling with a bit of pride. "I brought the letter this morning, you know."

"I see," said Subaru, nodding. "Well done, Petra. Now I'll only need to—"

"Petra, Meili! Children!" echoed a voice over the plaza, slightly shaky, and carrying a sense of urgency. "Get over here!"

The group turned their gazes to the woman who had just called them. It was the same middle-aged woman that closed the shutters when she had spotted him earlier. And Petra's hair, along with the red ribbon she wore, had a strong resemblance to hers… meaning that was probably her mother. Her slightly agitated mother.

"But—"

"No buts! Come here, now!" The children exchanged some confused gazes, but ultimately did as they were told, moving over to her.

"Before you go, can you tell me where I can find the village head?" As Petra had thrown one glance back, Subaru used the chance to squeeze in the important question.

Petra hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the central building. "She should be in the village hall, sorting through the harvest."

"Thanks, Petra!" said Subaru, giving her a thumbs up.

Though another angry harrumph forced the girl to scuttle over… where her mother gave her a stern talking to.

"What have I told you about talking to strangers!?" A raised finger, scolding words. Yeah, they really weren't too fond of outsiders. "And you too! I'll tell your parents about this," she continued, turning to the other kids, who winced in return.

He felt sorry for them, but part of him thought he might be partially at fault, having talked to the children so casually. Shaking his head, Subaru moved over to the hall, up the stairs, and eventually entered the building, leaving the scolding mother and the slightly peeved children behind.

Looking around the entrance hall, he noticed a huge double door directly ahead, leading probably to the actual hall, whereas the corridors to the left and right were probably leading to an office, or maybe a storage room. The head had to be in one of these though, and since nobody was around that he could ask… he'd simply try out each door.

Or at least, that's what he would've done. The moment he made a step forward, a door on the right corridor opened up, and a man stepped outside. He paused for a moment as he spotted Subaru, then moved directly to him. "Who're you, and what do you want here?" Subaru couldn't tell whether it was a genuine question, or if he took some offense at him being here… so he just smiled politely.

"I'm Na—"

"Whatever you want here, you should leave. Immediately." The man didn't even let him speak half of a sentence before he made clear that he wasn't welcome here. If his gruff voice didn't already give it away, his crossed arms and narrowed eyes certainly brought the point across.

"Wait, wait. Look, I—"

"I don't care what kind of story you're going to tell. We don't want any kind of trouble, and you look like nothing but trouble. Leave. Now." The man made a step closer… leading to Subaru taking one back.

Subaru gulped. Clearly, there was some sort of misunderstanding. After all, he had come to help the villagers—to take out a monster plaguing them. Instead, this man with a slight shade around his narrowed eyes was trying to send him away immediately. Worse—he didn't seem interested in listening to him at all. And the last thing he wanted was to cause a scene… that would completely undermine any and all credibility he might have. So what should I do?

Unfortunately, the man had already found the answer to this question, forcing him to make another step backwards. Just a couple more, and he'd get pushed out of the entrance.

Subaru took another deep breath. Either he'd force his way past the man, making a huge scene, maybe even causing a fight inside the village hall… Embarrassing not only himself, but probably also Roswaal in the process, as Ram was so eager to remind him off. There seemed to be plenty of people with anger issues, willing to start fights. Or, alternatively, he'd just leave for now… and try again later. Subaru was a bit surprised that he'd even consider it… but he had received enough beatings lately to at least consider the possibility of it happening again.

"Alright, alright," said Subaru, putting his hands up. "I'll leave. But I'll come again, to talk to the village head!" While he would comply, he also made it clear that he wouldn't back down that easily.

The man observed him leaving with a cautious gaze. Just like that, Subaru was forced to step outside again… barely a few moments after he had entered. Though by now, the children were nowhere to be seen anymore.

Across the plaza, Ram stood under the shadow of a house, observing his leave and actions. As he noticed and went over to her, she picked up the bags filled with food and whatever else she had bought.

"You failed."

It wasn't a question. Neither was it an accusation. It didn't even contain any kind of emotion. It was a simple statement, as someone would describe the color of the sky.

"It's just a minor setback," said Subaru, throwing an insulted glance to the village center. "Looks like they don't like strangers too much… I guess that's what you tried to warn me off."

The maid tilted her head. "Barusu… are you sure you've never hit your head too hard?"

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks, really helpful," said Subaru, groaning. "Now hand over the bags and let's head back. I'll figure out a way to make them listen."


Lying on his bed, Subaru regarded his new butler uniform, which had been mounted on a coat hanger. He thought back to dinner, where he reported that he hadn't been able to talk to the village head due to the villagers' distrust. Emilia had looked slightly saddened, while Roswaal was curious about what plan he'd come up with to solve the issue. Rem and Ram didn't look too surprised, as Ram had already voiced when they headed home from the village. Though much to his relief, at least none of them really spoke of failure—unlike him, who chastised himself for having been unable to make it through.

As he was thinking of ways how he could make the villagers listen, ranging from simply mentioning the monster to casting Shamak in the middle of the village, a knock startled him.

"Barusu, are you ready?" asked a by-now familiar voice. Well, not that anyone else would call him Barusu, but still.

"Yes Ram, you can come in." Moving over to the desk, it seemed now his first lessons in reading and writing began. Unsurprising, the maid brought with her sheets of paper, a full bottle of ink, and a quill. He had learned writing with ink when he tried out traditional calligraphy for Japanese, so luckily at least this wouldn't be too much of an issue… though he had only done it with a brush. The quill certainly was new. Still, it couldn't be that bad.

"Alright, Barusu. You will write until the bottle is empty." Or maybe it could.

Gulping, Subaru looked at the bottle. It was completely filled. While he wasn't sure how long it would take to empty it… he had the slight feeling Ram would not let him rest until he'd worked enough.

Surprisingly though, Ram was an excellent teacher and took her time to explain things succinctly and effectively. While she certainly did tease him occasionally, she never criticized him for any kind of question, and just generally offered a lot of guidance. She went so far as to constantly hold the book, pointing to the character he should switch to in the blink of an eye. Harsh, but still supportive.

"That is enough." Ram said this after he had written straight for about two hours, filling many pages with various "I"-characters. They were one of three different scripts used in their language, as she had told him. "Feel free to let me know when you need more utensils for writing, though I wonder whether Barusu will ever ask for this. As for the books… I will make sure you have adequate ones for your very basic beginner level."

"No praise for how diligent I've been at it?" asked Subaru jokingly, drying off the feather with a small piece of fabric, and arranging everything orderly on his desk for future use.

"You are better at writing than diplomacy," said Ram with a smug grin.

"Really had to pick on that one," he muttered, hanging his head in regret.

"This will from now on be part of your daily duties, so you better get used to it," said Ram, putting down the book on the desk. "Though perhaps a bit later in the evening. For now though, I have to attend to other matters. Good night, Barusu."

Escorting her to the door and stepping outside, Subaru too said his goodbyes, and the two parted ways. Ram left for the stairs leading up, while Subaru headed down.

Emilia had already begun communing with the spirits, so he walked outside and over to where she stood. He waved to her, which she acknowledged with a short nod, and sat down in the grass, observing the otherworldly spectacle.

Closing out the day like this was balm for his soul, allowing him to take a break from his worries concerning the villagers… something which he was deeply grateful for, even though he'd never be able to voice it.

After the last light glimmered and faded, Emilia headed over and sat down beside him, being welcomed with a warm smile. "Sorry that I got here a bit too late, Emilia-tan. Ram started to teach me reading and writing, and I couldn't get away sooner."

"Mhm. It's important to take your studies seriously," said Emilia nodding. "And Ram certainly wouldn't let you get away any sooner than she'd see it acceptable…"

Subaru perked up his ears. "Sounds like she's also put you through the mill," he said, chuckling.

Emilia chuckled in return. "It's nothing like that. But since Roswaal is very busy, Ram instead checks on my studies."

Her studies to become King. "Emilia-tan surely is diligent," said Subaru, almost revering. "Unlike…"

It sounded like she was constantly under the scrutiny of those around her, and yet seemed to do quite well. He could only strive to also become someone able to deal with all the things entrusted to him. However, first he had to find a way to actually even begin his task.

Emilia noticed the slight retreat of his smile and folded her hands. "… Do you want to talk about it?"

"I didn't want to trouble Emilia-tan with it," said Subaru, shaking his head.

"You don't have to tell me about it if you don't wan—"

"No, no. It's not because of that," said Subaru hastily, putting up his hands. "It's just embarrassing that I couldn't even get them to talk to me."

"I don't think so," said Emilia, directing her gaze to the village. "It's part of your task, after all… and all I can say is, that it didn't go too well for me either."

Another deep sigh expressed Subaru's innermost thoughts. If someone like Emilia already had trouble approaching the villagers, how was he supposed to fare any better? Especially considering that he had been met with nothing but caution wherever he went, with a few exceptions. "How did you manage to get past it?"

"I didn't," said Emilia, shaking her head. The resignation in her voice ran deep. "When I first arrived here, I visited the village, to get to know it and the people... But they weren't willing to talk to me at all. They just asked what I wanted with them, why I was there... and I didn't really have a good way to justify it." She sighed, running a hand through her hair before continuing. "Puck suggested I should just force them, but I didn't really want to do that again. So, after a few tries, I just let it be."

He felt a pang of sadness, hearing that she was treated so similarly to him… and that there didn't really seem to be a way to make them accept strangers easily. "In my case, they didn't even want to let me explain why I was there… even though I had a reason," said Subaru, sulking.

It was quite the problem. One he had already spent quite some time considering, yet failed to find a good solution for. Though, based on what Emilia had said… After a couple of seconds, an idea flashed through his mind, and his eyes widened. "The letter!"

"… The letter?" repeated Emilia, not quite following.

"The letter," repeated Subaru, self-assured. "The villagers sent the letter here, so if I show them that's why I'm going there, they can't send me away. Well… they could. But in doing so would also take back their request for help."

It was simple enough. Just like Emilia said, the only reason the villagers could shun him as they had, was because he did not have any particular reason to be there.

So, if there was a reason, and he could prove it—

"… Because Roswaal sent you, sending you away means sending Roswaal away, which would be rejecting the aid they themselves asked for. That might work," said Emilia with a decisive nod.

Thanking Emilia for his newfound vigor, he parted ways with her after walking together to her room. Even though his own room lay underway, there was still one last thing he wanted to do before heading to bed, so he took the detour.

Following his gut feeling, his eyes fell upon one specific door. And bolstered with new enthusiasm, he swung it open with great flair.

"Yo, Beako!" he exclaimed, making the blonde girl look up from the book she was currently reading. One of many of the day, judged by the pile sitting disorderly next to her.

"You really are an impudent fool, I suppose," said Beatrice, though her voice not quite matching the full bite her words implied. "Haven't you learned your lesson yet, in fact?"

Subaru smiled wryly. His body had felt sluggish all day after she had knocked him out. While he did have fun teasing her, he was smart enough not to overdo it… this time. "I'm just here to visit my favorite tsundere spirit."

"Stop using your made-up terms, I suppose!" said Beatrice, her voice skipping a note, immediately exposing her annoyance.

"What, you're telling me despite having all those books here, you don't know these words?" teased Subaru, clearly enjoying her reaction.

"The Forbidden Library contains vast knowledge! It isn't a place for your nonsensical babble, in fact!"

"Why is it even named like that? And why is there a spirit needed as a librarian?" Seemingly having teased her enough, Subaru dropped his cheeky grin, and instead took on a curious tone.

"To keep pests like you away, in fact." Despite her having calmed her temper, her words were as friendly as before.

"Hmm…" He was interested in learning more, but even he could tell from the look on the girl's face that she wasn't really in the mood for an explanation. "Well, I won't bother you if you don't want to talk anymore… Good night, Beako!" Before he left, he thought he heard some kind of "humph". He threw one last glance back, but the girl was already reading again, no longer acknowledging his presence.


The next morning, he once again made his way to the village, carrying the letter that would hopefully allow him to properly begin his task. Ram accompanied him again, though she didn't seem any more convinced of his chances at success than yesterday.

Originally, he asked Rem to go with him this time, hoping to develop their friendship a bit, but she had too much to do. In fact, he learned that she was doing most of the housework, excelling at practically everything compared to her sister except maybe teaching and fighting. Though, the blue-haired maid had strictly denied all of it, leaving Subaru slightly confused. Still, it was clear that she wouldn't have the time to accompany him in the morning. And since Subaru had been very eager to begin, he went with Ram instead. Though the maid had mentioned purchasing some fabric and thread, so as not to completely waste her time. She didn't know of his plan with the letter yet.

Once they arrived at the village, he didn't waste any time and went directly to the village center. There were considerably more people there this time, including men. Some of them carried crates, others sacks, and one or two had wheelbarrows filled with produce besides them. Seems like they were bringing some of the harvest to the village center.

"You again!" A voice called out to him. Looking over, he saw the brown-haired man from the previous day putting down a sack he had heaved over his shoulder, then approaching him with his expression curved into anger. "Didn't I tell you to leave and stay away?"

"Didn't I say I'd come again?" asked Subaru back, clearly unimpressed. His crossed arms and deep frown matched the man's, both not budging in the slightest.

Since the man had raised his voice when he saw him, the two inadvertently caught the attention of the other villagers, some of them gathering at the side of their friend. Concerned murmurs rose up, with some exclaiming, "What's this?", or, "Unbelievable…"

"Do you know that guy?" asked one of the other men.

"Of course not!" The man in front of him snapped back, almost as if the question itself was an offense. "I saw him lurking around here yesterday, and sent him away. Told him not to come back," he spat, narrowing his eyes even more now. It seemed like he blamed Subaru for all of this. "But it seems he doesn't listen to words alone."

As the other villagers' expressions darkened, Subaru felt that the right moment had come.

"I'm Natsuki Subaru!" he proclaimed, surprising the villagers, who didn't seem to expect him to raise his voice like that. "And I have come in the name of Lord Roswaal, based on this letter that had been sent to him!" Subaru raised the piece of paper high to the sky. "It states that the village of Arlam seeks aid regarding some issue, and so I have been sent by Lord Roswaal himself to take care of it!"

Another set of murmurs erupted, this time sounding even more doubting. "You gotta be kidding me," or, "What a sick joke," were probably the most common reactions.

"You're clearly lying, boy," said the man. Though as he regarded him, he didn't seem too convinced of his own words.

"You are free to send me away," said Subaru, storing the letter again in the inner pocket of his suit. "In that case, I will report to Lord Roswaal that you are not in need of assistance anymore. Otherwise, let me through so I can meet the village head."

"My daughter told me she and the other children met someone new from the mansion yesterday," said one of the men, with a hand on his chin. "It might be true."

"We're going to keep a close eye on you," warned another man standing to the side, his eyes just barely looking over the edge of the crate he was carrying. The others faced him with similar gazes, full of suspicion.

Unimpressed, Subaru took a step forward—and the man directly in front of him, one to the side. As Subaru passed them, one of the men spoke up. "The head's in the village hall, end of the left corridor." It was the same man who had told the others of the children meeting someone.

"Thanks!" said Subaru, leaving all formality behind again, throwing him a grin instead.

As he climbed the stairs, Ram stepped out of the shadow of one of the pillars. "Using the letter and Lord Roswaal's name, Barusu?" she asked, startling him. "It has been noted."

"It would've been easier if you had just confirmed the story," replied Subaru.

But aside from another scoff, it seemed Ram had nothing more to add to this. Instead, she merely followed him inside.


"A mabeast is robbing you of sleep?" asked Subaru, repeating the village head's words. He had asked what exactly had been happening… and this was the first thing the elderly woman had said.

"Quite so," she affirmed. "It's howling and roaring at night, waking everyone up. It also scares the children, the poor things." The woman shook her head and adjusted her necklace. "But not only that. The cows produce less milk, and some of the chickens have stopped laying eggs, and are shedding their feathers. You see, a most dire situation."

Ram nodded along, issuing Subaru to do the same. While he didn't understand too much of medieval farming, this sure sounded bad.

"Even if the mabeasts can't actually reach us, the barrier be thanked, we're in great worry for the damages this beast's presence causes."

"So there haven't been any direct attacks yet?" asked Subaru, almost making the woman flinch.

"Yet? That would be most worrisome, no, quite terrible," said the woman, readjusting her topknot a bit. "It just howls in the night, prancing close to the barrier, and draws a horde of smaller mabeasts with it. That's at least what some of those have reported, that stayed awake, trying to find out what caused this whole mess."

"So this thing's appeared as their leader, huh…. And by killing their leader, peace should return to the forest… and in turn, the village," summarized Subaru, tipping his index on his forehead. "The coming days, I will take care of it, then." At those words, the woman rewarded him with maybe the first smile he'd seen from any of the villagers thus far. She thanked him and Ram for having come so quickly to take care of the matter.

"First, I'll need to gather some information though." Lacking any real combat skill, Subaru knew that he couldn't just attack the beast head-on. He had already concluded that he'd need to use some sort of trap, or other tools to have any chance of bringing a beast down.

"You're free to wander about the village and forest. Just send anyone to me, should they give you trouble."

With that assurance, Subaru left the village hall. As they walked down the plaza, ignoring the poorly-concealed gazes of the working villagers, Ram threw him a questioning glance. "This isn't the way to the mansion, Barusu."

"Well, obviously," said Subaru shaking his head, continuing on. "I'm heading to the forest."

Ram widened her eyes, and her voice took on a surprised tone. "Barusu wants to go directly to the forest? To do what exactly?"

"Just to check the area. I'll have to hunt it, after all," he said, surprised about her question.

"So Barusu wants to head directly to the monster-infested forest."

Halting, Subaru regarded Ram dumbstruck. His blank expression got only disturbed by a couple of quickly succeeding blinks. "Maybe I'll need a weapon for that."

"Maybe Barusu will need a weapon for that," repeated Ram in a neutral tone. Despite his slight vexation, she didn't seem to use this moment as a jab against him.

Making a jump on the spot, Subaru turned around. "Alright then. Let's first head back, where I'll grab a weapon. And some charcoal."

The maid gave him a questioning look again, but as Subaru refused to elaborate, she just shrugged, them both heading back to the mansion.


Jumping on the very same spot, Subaru beamed.

"And what was that for?"

"Just to emphasize that we continue where we left off before," answered Subaru, feeling energized after his short break.

Though it wasn't that short of a break. It was only after lunch with Roswaal—who seemed most amused about him having been able to get past the villagers—and Emilia, who was equally happy to hear about his success, that he was taken by Ram to pick up his weapon.

Or rather, pick his weapon. Roswaal had a whole arsenal just lying around in one of the storage rooms. And as Ram had made it sound, it might have been one of many. Still, he was free to choose any weapon stored in it. Swords of all sizes, spears, axes, bows, and shields. Even two crossbows had been stored here. But given that he would go after a monster, and so far lacked any experience with something other than a sword, he eventually settled on that. Maybe he could try out other weapons at some later point, but for now, he wanted to stick to something familiar.

Patting the longsword fastened to his side, loosely hanging from his belt in its red sheath, he walked towards the forest. Even though nothing should happen as long as he stayed close to the village—thanks to the multiple magical barriers that surrounded the village, as Emilia had explained to him—it would've been reckless going at his task without a weapon.

That, and he picked up some other things when they had gone back. From his pockets he produced a piece of charcoal, taken from the fireplace in the dining room.

"If Barusu intends to burn down the forest, I would have to intervene," said Ram, regarding the pitch-black remnants of wood.

"I doubt it's going to work better than oil," murmured Subaru, shaking the thought off. "Nah, this isn't to burn something, it's to draw."

"Are Barusu's artistic skills so lacking that they could slay a monster?"

"I'll have you know, I won a drawing contest in elementary school, so certainly not!" Despite the silly answer, and him being sure she wouldn't get it, he still puffed his chest. "I could even draw your portrait… though I certainly would prefer to do that for Emilia."

"Getting ogled by Barusu's lecherous eyes, how revolting," said Ram, hugging herself and pretending to shudder. "I can only feel sorry for Emilia-sama, having drawn the attention of such a lustful pig."

With a groan, Subaru marched forward, issuing Ram to adopt a smug grin to revel in her victory.

Though he didn't walk too long, stopping just right at the edge of a fence. "This looks like it'd be the end of the village." The fence had separated a trampled path and field of grass, and the wild and cross-grown trees of the forest. "So if the beast prances all around the village… maybe it came close to this place."

Subaru's plan was simple. Find some footprints, and follow them. See where they'd come from, and where they went. His goal wasn't to follow them into the forest now though. No, what he wanted to do was to find a footprint that was not just visible or fresh, but well-discernible. Ideally, it would be so clear-cut that one could see the marks of the claws. With that, he could perhaps find out what kind of monster was stalking the forest… with some tiny bit of help from a certain drill-loli. It was either that, or asking the villagers if they saw anything. And for some reason, he saw better chances of getting help from Beatrice.

Prancing around the village now himself, he tried to find any such trace. It didn't take him very long to find some pushed-in dirt. Pushed in by a multitude of paws, even.

"As if taking care of one wouldn't have been hard enough," sighed Subaru, as he looked at the footprints. "But these won't do." No matter how he looked at it, they all looked about the same. And if he recalled correctly, they said the one he was after was particularly big. Meaning these were the footprints of the other mabeasts following it.

So he continued, following the track by going deeper into the forest, abandoning his initial plan. Ram silently followed him, her thoughts as shrouded in mystery as ever.

But no matter how long he followed the trace, the footprints remained uniform. So far, there wasn't a single hint that one of the beasts might be bigger. The only thing that was striking was the unevenness of the path they seemed to take. He did not have much experience with following animal trails, but he was fairly sure they weren't supposed to have so many bumps over what was otherwise even terrain.

Though when they crossed the edge of a small clearing, Subaru stumbled, stepping forward where no ground had been. He took a small tumble, falling on the floor with a thud.

"So Barusu already wants to take a break," commented Ram from behind him.

Cursing, Subaru picked himself up, patting the dust away from his now-sullied uniform. But as he patted his vest, looking down to see whether he was clean again, his eyes widened.

Slowly looking forward, he could spot a small row of holes, slightly above the far bigger hole he now stood in.

Beads of sweat traveled down Subaru's temples. He didn't just trip over some random hole in the ground… this was a footprint. A very big footprint.

Normally, he'd try to calm his nerves by making some silly remark or joke, but now… all he felt was a sinking feeling in his stomach. In his best attempt to shake it off, he climbed out of the pit and turned to Ram, who observed the footprint just as intently, though seemingly unmoved.

The paw print was gigantic in comparison to the others. When he had first spotted the smaller ones, they had vaguely reminded him of those of dogs, or maybe wolves—but there was no way that anything he knew would leave footprints this size.

Even though his wish had been granted—clear shape, easily discernible—now that he had realized what it was, and even scratch marks where its claws were protruding… He couldn't feel happy about this. At all.

He simply felt terrified.

The claw alone looked to be bigger than his hand. He had fallen into the hole left by this monster's paw! How big would it even need to be for that!?

Such, and similar concerns were now all shooting through Subaru's head, leaving him to wonder how, or maybe even if he could take such a thing down.

Taking a deep breath, Subaru took out one of the sheets of paper that he had brought with him, and began filling it with traces of coal. Originally, he had hoped to simply compare the smaller, dog-like prints, to maybe guess how much bigger their leader could be in proportion to them. As soon as he'd find out how big they were, he had at least a way to estimate the monster's size. But with a print like that…

"I can only really ask you," said Subaru, holding two pieces of paper into her face.

"And you expect me to help you, I suppose?" asked a voice, devoid of any care or interest. "And take that dirty piece of paper out of my face, I suppose!"

The bigger footprint he had drawn by hand, making a vague sketch. But for the smaller ones, he had chosen the one with the clearest outline, placed the paper on the ground to overlay the footprint, and then rubbed the charcoal so that its outline would get copied onto the paper. And that slightly dirt-sullied piece of paper, he now presented to Beatrice.

"So, do you know what kind of mabeast may leave footprints like these?" asked Subaru, undeterred by her dismissive attitude.

The girl sighed deeply, closing the book she was reading. "These forests have always been the home to Ulgrams, in fact," answered Beatrice, hopping up from her chair and walking over to one of the shelves. "And that… scribbling you have there, does vaguely resemble their paws, I suppose."

Throwing one quick glance, she took out a thin, brown, leather-bound book, and flipped through the pages. "Here, I suppose," she eventually announced, after she had taken her seat again. Plenty of tiny characters filled the page… and the picture of a paw, similar to the one he drew.

"So Ulgrams," repeated Subaru as he peeked over her shoulder, trying to decipher the unfamiliar characters. "What about the other one?" Even though it was good to know what kind of mabeast the smaller ones were… they weren't his target.

"I'm not sure, I suppose," said Beatrice, as she read through the page. "That forest has always been home to Ulgrams, in fact. Seems like it's simply an alpha, I suppose."

"So it really is just that stupidly big," sighed Subaru, rubbing his temples.

"The normal ones appear to resemble rabid dogs, I suppose. Only that their fur is always a mix of brown and black, and their teeth are far greater in number and sharpness, in fact." With that, she closed the book and regarded him with a bored expression.

She seemed to have anticipated his remaining questions. "Thanks, Beako, you're the best!" he exclaimed, shooting her a thumbs up.

"Even an irresponsible fool seems to have his bright moments, I suppose," said Beatrice, taking on a smug expression. "Will you now finally leave, I suppose?"

"Yep. I gotta think for a bit, but I'll come back tomorrow!" said Subaru, flashing her a grin. Ignoring her pout, he wished her good night and left. And after another study session with Ram, and a calming evening with Emilia, he fell asleep, feeling like he had finally gained a foothold.


Author's note:

Thank you [LookingGlassInsect] for beta'ing this chapter! At least you had a lot of laughs at the humor in this chapter, while trying to even out the rougher parts.

Also, take note that there has been done an artwork to Chapter 8 by Barto, which has been comissioned by Touman! Be sure to check it out by checking Barto's Twitter (RealBarto / ZeroBarto)! And many thanks to you two, Touman and Barto! Be sure to leave kind words for them in the reviews / comments.